As a beer judge, I think a lot about taste, smell and the sensations we experience when enjoying food and drink. As I prepare to judge at the Great American Beer Festival, I am focused, even more intensely, on sensory perception and the factors that can change it.

In Webster’s 1968 New World Dictionary, a “Geek” was described as a madman…a fool…most often a Carney performer whose grotesque acts highlighted such wild or untamed drama as biting the head off a live snake.

Although the craft beer movement is surging ahead at the speed of lightning, those who simply wish to enjoy good beer with good food may not have the time or resources to stay updated on the myriad of beer styles available to them. You might say that the Cicerone champions the Rights of the Consumer

Beer is a sensual experience. Few can deny the initial salivation that occurs as one observes her favorite beer, spilling into the glass. It is Ravel's Bolero; Saint-Saens's Havanaise; Milt Jackson's Stairway to the Stars.